


You Are Not Your Father, and That's Ok

by JAB08199



Category: Legacies (TV 2018)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-23
Updated: 2019-02-09
Packaged: 2019-10-14 23:14:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17517656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JAB08199/pseuds/JAB08199
Summary: Josie gets sick right before going to meet the rest of Hope's family. Hope's wolf side freaks out. Alaric and the rest of the Mikaelson's think she could be dangerous. Their decisions have consequences.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This started out as Josie getting sick and Hope's wolf side being really protective but it evolved into something else.
> 
> I proofread this like 4 different times but idk if any of those times saved so I'm sorry in advance if there are any mistakes or if something doesn't make sense.
> 
> Enjoy~

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It all happened so fast. One second she was preparing to take Josie to dinner with the rest of her family, the next moment Alaric was knocking on her door to tell her Josie had caught something. A stomach bug or the flu or whatever. Something in Hope clicked without her even noticing. She had to make sure Josie was ok. Shoving past Alaric with such force she threw him into her door frame she took off towards Josie’s room.

 

Alaric noticed the subtle change in the tribrid’s eyes. Upon delivering the news about Josie, Hope’s eyes suddenly had a barely noticeable gold tint to the edges of her normally clear blue eyes. Alaric followed soon after confused but not exactly worried. What he saw was puzzling for sure but he didn’t know what else to think after that. Maybe she was just upset that Josie got sick right when she was supposed to meet the rest of the Mikaelsons.

 

Hope burst into the twins room with purpose. She was at Josie’s side within seconds. Her eyes wide and searching.

 

“Hope what are you-” Josie started but was cut off as Hope lifted her up and off the bed bridal style and carried her out the door back in the direction of the tribrid’s room.

 

Alaric had just gotten to the door to be shoved out of the way once again, this time by the Mikaelson girl and his daughter. Josie was staring at him with wide confused eyes. He was too shocked to do anything but watch.

 

“Dad!?” Lizzie shouted rushing over, bringing Alaric out of his stupor. “What is she doing?!”

 

“I don’t really know” Alaric replied. “I went to tell Hope that Josie was sick, and something..changed?”

 

“What do you mean something _changed_ , dad?”

 

“Her eyes and...she just seemed to go into a trance”

 

“What about Josie? Should we be worried?” Lizzie was starting to get nervous.

 

“No.. she seemed..scared...protective. Her eyes...they have a gold tint to them.”

 

Alaric was being honest. Hope wasn’t acting in a threatening way at all. Something had changed and he wasn’t sure what. Luckily Josie was supposed to be going out for dinner with Hope’s family. They wanted to meet the young Saltzman. Judging on Hope’s new and unexpected behavior, Alaric was betting on the fact that she had neglected to contact her family to tell them about her girlfriend falling ill so they would most likely still be showing up later.

 

Alaric sent Lizzie to keep an eye on Josie while he went to prepare for his guest's arrival.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Meanwhile, Hope had brought Josie to her room and had carefully placed her on the bed.

 

“Do you need me to get you anything?” Hope asked, scurrying around the room. She was collecting blankets and extra pillows to bring back to Josie and was arranging them around her, almost like a nest. Hope had pulled Josie forward by the shoulders and started to stuff pillows behind her.

 

“Hope are you ok?” Josie asked.

 

Hope turned to look at Josie. “Yeah, I'm not the one who's sick. Why? Are you ok? Do you need me to get you anything?” Hope asked again, still wide-eyed.

 

Josie now noticed the gold in her girlfriend's eyes. “Um..not right now… Is this about dinner?

 

The tribrids face took one of confusion. “What? Who cares about dinner. I just want to keep you safe”

 

“...keep..keep me safe?” Josie thought aloud. She was utterly at a loss for words.

 

“Yeah..” Hope started wringing her hands together. “I-uh, You’re sick and I just wanted to keep an eye on you…. I can take you back to your room if you want.” Hope’s nerves were clearly getting the better of her and her wide blue-gold eyes cracking Josie right down the middle.

 

“No, no. It's ok. I’ll stay” Josie decided. She’d rather be here to see what the hell was going on with Hope.

 

The tribrid had dragged over an armchair that was in the corner of her room and slid it over next to the bed. Sitting down she brought her legs up in a crisscross position and stared at Josie.

 

“Are you sure you don’t need anything” Hope whispered.

 

Josie smiled. “I guess I could use some water. If you don’t mind that is.” She knew Hope would probably keep asking anyway so she gave her something to do.

 

Watching as Hope jumped up to grab a water bottle from somewhere in the room. She honestly moved to fast for Josie to see where it came from. Returning to Josie’s side to give her the water Hope asked once again “Anything else?”

 

Josie smirked with her sudden idea. “Yeah, I’m kinda tired but I don’t want to sleep just yet”

 

“What can I do?” Hope asked.

 

Josie just held out her arms and widened her smile. The shorter girl wasted no time climbing into the makeshift nest and burying herself into the brunette’s arms. Both girls steady heartbeats lulling each other to sleep.

 

Alaric and Lizzie had come to check on Josie every now and then. Well, they tried to at least. Whenever they knocked on the door no one would answer so just to make sure everything was ok they would poke their heads into the room and every time, Hope would pick her head up and stare at the door with full golden eyes. If they tried to go anywhere past the doorway she would growl and tighten her hold on Josie until the door was closed once again. The siphon had no idea mostly, as she slept the whole time in an attempt to recover.

 

Alaric, for the first time that he could think of, was happy that the Mikaelson clan would be arriving so they could tell him what the hell was going on and possibly what to do about it.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It was a few hours later when a massive limo breached the boundary of the school. Leave it to Freya Mikaelson to just bust through the boundary spells and not just call and ASK for them to be brought down temporarily.

 

Upon pulling up to the front door the whole clan was quick to get out and rush to the front door. Alaric could tell that they were all pretty anxious.

 

Freya was the first to speak. “Wanna tell me why my niece has been radio silent all of a sudden? She sounded pretty excited over the phone and then boom, nothing.”

 

“Yeah, something happened,” Alaric replied. He watched all the Mikaelson’s tense up and realized his mistake. “Ok poor choice of words, she's fine. It just that she’s different.”

 

“What does that mean?” asked the tall dark skinned man still leaning against the side of the limo. Marcel. Alaric had heard some about him from Hope.

 

Alaric lead them inside and to an empty common room before continuing.

 

“Josie got sick. Might be the flu, we don’t all have supernatural healing. I told Hope and… it was like a switch or something. She walked into the twins room and took Josie. Literally. She took Josie back to her room and hasn’t let anyone come near her, she growls when we try to enter. I was hoping you could tell me what’s going on.”

 

Freya spared a knowing smirk towards her wife, who instantly blushed. “Are her eyes gold tinted?”

 

“Yeah.” Alaric replied. It was then that he noticed the real, genuine smiles on everyone’s faces.

 

“It's a wolf thing” Keelin explained. “She just wants to keep Josie safe. I do it when Freya gets sick-”

 

“And it’s adorable” Freya cut in.

 

“Anyway,” Keelin continued, elbowing her wife. “Hope’s human and wolf sides recognize that Josie is sick, but her wolf side is pulling her into a panic because she can’t do anything to help but wait for Josie to get better. In an effort to try and balance the panic she must have thought taking Josie would help.”

 

“So the nest of pillows and blankets are…?” Alaric asked.

 

“Safe space” Kol cut in. “She's trying to provide a space where Josie won’t feel threatened or distressed.”

 

“This is a step farther though.” voiced Freya. “Keeling usually only stays glued to my side when I'm sick… She’s never taken me and held me hostage or growled at our friends. I wonder.. When was the last time she shifted?”

 

“A while ago. She only shifted before to blow off steam and clear her head. After she started dating Josie, Hope hasn’t really needed to blow off as much steam. Josie doesn’t let her bottle up anymore.” Alaric said with a smile.

  


Josie was such a good addition to Hope’s life. She forced the tribrid out of her shell and wouldn’t take no for an answer. While at the same time Alaric couldn’t be happier with how well Hope treated Josie. She was always patient with Josie. He could tell that Hope wasn’t a fan of being second to Lizzie but she never gave Josie any problems about it. Often when Josie had to help her sister through whatever dilemma she would return to Hope at ungodly hours of the night exhausted and completely spent the shorter girl would welcome her with open arms, tight hugs and forehead kisses.

 

Alaric wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about his daughter being with Hope. He had nothing against her really, but she was still a Mikaelson. His opinion honestly did a complete turn around a few weeks ago. Alaric had gone to say goodnight to his daughters and walked right into Josie and Lizzie at each other's throats. He had done his best to contain and defuse the situation, but one last comment from Lizzie sent Josie tearing out of the room with tears streaming down her face at two in the morning. Alaric had quickly chastised Lizzie before chasing after her. He found his daughter standing outside the Mikaelson girl’s door barely holding herself together. Alaric paused as the door whipped open to reveal a quite disheveled auburn-haired girl standing there. With one look at the brunette, Hope’s eyes flared gold and all signs of sleep were gone. She took Josie’s face in her hands and started pressing warm kisses to her forehead and rest of her face. Hope didn’t ask anything she just comforted Josie, and when the exhaustion finally caught up to her and Josie stumbled the tribrid didn’t hesitate to pick her up and disappear back into the room. He didn’t see either of the two until around dinner that night, Josie sporting a New Orleans sweatshirt and the bright smile returned to her face.

 

Now was different though. Josie could be in danger. Hope was a Mikaelson after all.

 

“The full moon is in a few days,” Keelin said interrupting Alaric’s thoughts. “She might not be forced to change but she still feels the pull. I'm guessing her instincts are ten times as strong because of that and the fact that she hasn’t shifted in so long.”

 

“Is there anything we can do about it?” Alaric questioned. “I mean I don't have a problem with Hope’s wolf side, but Josie is going to have to leave that room eventually and I can’t have Hope growling at every student that looks at them.”

 

Freya looked skeptical. “I...yes there is something I could do.”

 

“Freya...Are you sure?” shot Keelin.

 

Alaric was interested. “What? What is it?”

 

“There's a potion...a type of magic concoction” Freya started. “We use it sometimes on Keelin when her wolf is a little too much. It uses a small dose of wolfsbane and a few other ingredients. It drains a wolf of ninety percent of its energy leaving them really sluggish for about twenty-four hours. The problem with Hope is that shes a tribrid. I’d have to use a higher concentration of wolfsbane and add vervain. And we don’t know what it would do to her.”

 

“Can’t hurt to try.” Stated Alaric. “Tell me what you need.”

 

Freya handed Alaric a list and with a nod, he was off to the storerooms. While the Mikaelsons helped Freya clear workspace in the classroom.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

Everyone was standing outside Hope’s room waiting. The plan was to have Marcel use his vampire speed to rush into the room and inject Hope with the finished serum. They’d deal with the aftermath later.

 

Alaric’s nod was the signal. Freya spelled the door open and Marcel rushed in. Upon the door flying open, both girls jumped up. Hope is fast but Marcel is faster. She had just enough time to roll on top of Josie in an attempt to protect her from whatever threat had just come through the door. She felt a sharp pain in her shoulder and then heard a voice.

 

“Sorry Kiddo”

 

Hope’s eyes widened. She knew that voice. Turning her head she saw her foster brother. “Marce-”

 

Her entire body felt like a million pounds. She went dead weight on top of Josie, causing the girl to wrap her arms around her protectively.

 

“Who-Who are you?!” Josie shouted. “What did you do to her?”

 

“Relax kid” said Marcel.

 

The whole Mikaelson clan was making its way into Hope’s room now but Josie didn’t know that, after all, she had never met them before. They were just strangers to her. So she did what any other person would do when people bust into their house and stab their girlfriend with a syringe, she siphoned some magic from Hope and raised her hand ready to recite an offensive spell.

 

“Josie wait!”

 

“Dad?”

 

“These are the Mikaelsons” Alaric replied.

 

Josie’s eyes widened to an impossible size.

 

“Oh” was all she managed to say.

 

A strangled grunt brought them all back to reality. Hope’s body was going haywire. She couldn’t move a muscle but she was trying. Her heart was racing at an incredible speed.

 

Marcel and Keelin had both picked up on it.

 

“Freya, her heart, shes panicking” whispered Keelin.

 

“The concentration must have been too strong, it sucked too much energy out. We just need her to calm down. She needs to know she's safe.” Voiced Freya.

 

“No.” said Rebekah, causing everyone to look at her. “She needs to know her girlfriend is safe. She’s her father’s daughter. She would do anything for the person she loves.”

 

All eyes fell on Josie.

 

“I- um- ok, ok just um- ok.” Josie stammered out. A certain four-letter word still hanging in the air throwing her for a loop. She recovers quickly.

 

Josie began to play with Hope’s hair, running her hands through it and looping it around her fingers. It took a few minutes but after Leaning down to whisper and coo reassurances in her ear she felt Hope start to relax. Her blue eyes still cloudy and a very unfocused but at least she was doing better.

 

After a few more minutes Josie spoke. “So...What did you do to her...and why?”

 

Freya and Alaric explained the situation to her. About her wolf side being turned up to eleven and how they wanted to contain the situation.

 

“Ok, I’ll make sure she runs more often.” she said, earning another grunt and a playful glare from the girl on top of her. “uh...How long will she be like this?”

 

“Probably until tomorrow” Stated Freya.

 

“Josie, I think we should take her to one of the cells in case anything happens” stated Alaric.

 

“You want her to be alone?” Josie scoffed. “Get out”

 

“Josie-”

 

“No. I’m sick of this. I have a phone dad, you could have called me or texted me to see what was up,” She said throwing her phone towards the end of the bed. “ and I would have told you that nothing was wrong but no, Hope Mikaelson is acting strange so better do something about it before she kills everyone right? God. Pick one. Shes either a teenager or a threat. She can’t be both, it’s not fair. You can’t treat her like you treated her father and then use her for some scheme the next day. I’m not gonna let you do that to her anymore. She was just being protective. She finally gets some form of happiness and you come in and literally stab her in the back? What kinda message does that send?”

 

“Hey, listen kid We were just trying to help.” said Marcel, bringing Josie’s ice cold stare off her dad and onto him.

 

“Help what? Nothing was wrong. And let's not forget. You came for dinner. One night. What about after? Are you just gonna disappear to the corners of the world again? She might be too scared to admit it but I’m too scared for her not to tell you myself. You think phone calls and astral projections are enough? She put so much effort into bringing your family back together and almost died for it. Her parents died for it and what do you do? You dump her at a school where her father is in the history books as the literal devil.”

 

Josie was so furious she was crying.

 

“Where were you when she had nightmares? About her parents, or about you guys? Did you hold her when she cried or was afraid to sleep? Were you here when she had to fight all the threats to the school?! The real threats?!”

 

Josie was sobbing now.

 

“W-were you the ones, who- who- who cried yourself to sleep when- when she got hurt during those fights? And you didn’t know if her super healing would be enough? And now you want to throw her into a cell and wait? So you can come back tomorrow and act like this never happened?” Josie finished, tightening her hold on Hope. She was breathing hard. The only reassurance she got was Hope nuzzling her face into her stomach, it was all the girl could to anyway.

 

“J-Josie” repeated her dad.

 

Siphoning magic from Hope, Josie raised her hand and spoke a quick spell, pushing everyone back a few steps. It wasn’t anything strong, just enough to get her point across.

 

“Get. Out.” she said through clenched teeth.

 

Marcel took a step forward and Josie tensed. She was angry but also scared out of her mind. She just yelled at the Mikaelsons. Even more, she had just used magic against the Mikaelsons. His forward step was halted by a hand on his arm.

 

“Let’s go.” said Rebekah. She turned and strolled out of the room as elegantly as ever. The rest of the Mikaelsons and her dad followed.

 

Hope mumbled something incoherently. She looked down to see Hope plant a kiss on her shirt over her stomach and then stick her tongue out. There were a few tears in her eyes but Josie couldn’t tell if they were from sadness or from pride.

 

Josie pulled Hope up so her head was now laying on her chest.

 

“Wanna go back to sleep? We can talk about this whole thing later?” Josie asked.

 

Hope planting a kiss over her heart was the only answer needed. She pulled the blankets back up, wrapped her arms back around Hope and closed her eyes.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Josie was woken up hours later by something poking her side. She swatted whatever it was away and tried to return do dreamworld. Unfortunately for her, whatever she shoved clearly didn’t appreciate it because the next thing Josie felt was a sharp pain in her side.

 

Jolting awake she attempted to sit up but the weight on her chest didn’t let her go far. Picking her head up she was staring into blue eyes.

 

“I'm hungry” Hope choked out. Her voice was coarse and rough.

 

“Did you pinch me?”

 

The tribrid just stuck her tongue out.

 

“How are you feeling? You got your voice back I see.” Josie stated, a small smile playing on her lips.

 

“Barely” replied Hope. “I guess whatever that stuff was isn’t lasting as long as it was supposed to. I can move a little, but every part of me still feels like supernatural lead.”

 

“Supernatural lead?” Josie asked.

 

“Well yeah… I have supernatural strength so… regular lead is too light. But you get what I mean”

 

“Sure.” said the brunette with a smile.

 

“I’m hungry” Hope repeated. “I keep some snacks in that drawer over there for when I’m feeling particularly anti-social.”

 

“Yeah… we uh, we did miss dinner” Josie mumbled. “we‘re gonna have to talk about that you know…”

 

“I’m sorry” they both said at the same time.

 

Josie was utterly confused. What did Hope have to be sorry about?

 

Hope took the initiative to continue at Josie’s expression. “You just got a face full of the classic Mikaelson drama. That and my foster brother threatened you. I- I couldn't move or do anything. I thought he was going to do something when you pushed them. For the first time, I was scared of my own family. I know that your dad and my aunts would never let him do anything but still...”

 

“Well… I'm sorry too… I didn’t mean to completely ruin the first time I met your family… I can’t imagine how bad they want to rip my heart out.”

 

Josie had made it back over to the bed with a bag of chips, some candy bars, and two water bottles.

 

“They won’t ever hurt you.”

 

“How can you say that Hope… What if my dad or your aunt isn’t there next time.”

 

“Because the next time I see them I'm going to make it clear that if they EVER so much as look at you menacingly, they’ll lose me too.” Hope whispered while reaching out to take Josie’s hand.

 

“Hope, you- you can’t be-”

 

“I’m serious. You mean too much to me. And… what you said to them was right. They might be my family and I’ll cherish Always and Forever till I die but… you’re my family too now and If they don’t see or accept that, then too bad for them”

 

Josie leaned down to give Hope a passionate kiss, which the still pretty out of it girl returned as much as she could.

 

“You wanna watch a movie?” asked the brunette.

 

“Sure” Hope smiled. “My laptop is over on my desk. It should be charged. But can you help me roll over… I still can’t move that well.”

 

“Yeah” Josie giggled.

 

Josie aided her girlfriend in getting into a comfortable position. Which turned out to be nestled into her side, leaning her head on the siphon’s shoulder.

 

They were about twenty-five minutes into the movie when Hope spoke again.

 

“I’m sorry for always scaring you. I- I didn’t know it affected you that much”

 

“I-” Josie tried, pausing trying to figure out the right words. “I wish you would get it through your stupid, stubborn, wolf head, that you aren’t your father. You don’t have anything to prove. Not to me. Not to anyone. Everyone needs to stop comparing you to him, Hope. It's not healthy. You are Hope Andrea Mikaelson, and you have bits of your mom and dad in you. The good and the bad. And that's ok, that’s life. But you’re not them, you’re you. And that’s also ok. You don’t have any expectations to live up to. There is no bar set, it’s all in your head.”

 

Josie leaned down to press a quick kiss to Hope’s forehead. Placing a hand on her chin and gently turning the girl’s head, Josie looked into stormy blue eyes with a mischevious smile.

 

“I change my mind. You have to live up to my expectations. Lots of cuddling, soft silky hair that smells like outside, stunning blue eyes, that kinda stuff. I’ll make you a list.”

 

The tribrid fixed Josie with her classic ‘bitch please’ look.

 

“Oh! And she definitely has to be a little spoon.” Josie added with a wink, leaving Hope looking mortified.

 

“I am NOT a little spoon.” she said, turning away to pout.

 

The movie totally forgotten Josie closed and placed the laptop off to the side along with the snacks and water and turned out the lights before pressing her lips to Hope’s cheek. She then laid down behind her, wrapping her arms around the shorter girl and pulling her as close as she could.

 

“keep telling yourself that” she whispered.

 

Josie couldn’t see it, but she cracked Hope’s fake pout and left her with a sleepy smile. Both girls still exhausted from their day and having their rest interrupted.

 

“The pieces will fall wherever they please Hope. But everything will be ok in the end. If it isn’t, then it’s not the end. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even get to try dinner again.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josie helps Hope figure everything out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this was supposed to be the dinner chapter and I'm sorry to have jebaited you all. This chapter ended up being 10 pages in my google doc when it was originally supposed to be like 3 max and it didn't feel right to me to add the dinner to the end of it and making this its own chapter made more sense. Dinner WILL be next chapter. I promise.

Josie was sitting next to Hope on the tribrid’s bed. They were currently enjoying one of their favorite activities, cuddling as close to each other as possible and watching a movie. When all of a sudden Josie felt Hope tense up and look around the room.

 

“Babe what's wrong?” she asked.

 

“Someone’s trying to pull me in.” Replied Hope who was now looking around the room. “It has to be my Aunt Freya, no one else would have a strong enough connection to me or enough power to do it.”

 

“What do you mean she’s trying to pull you in?”

 

“It’s like reverse astral projection,” Explained Hope. “instead of me projecting she’s trying to pull me to her.”

 

Josie could tell that Hope was struggling to resist. Her aunt really wanted to talk apparently.

 

“Hope maybe you should let her. What if it’s important?” asked Josie.

 

“Then they should have apologized to you”

 

“Hope, please? How can they apologize if you won’t talk to them? Do it for me?” Josie begged.

 

After the incident a few weeks ago Hope had alienated her family. So was so upset that she hadn’t spoken or made any attempt to contact them since. They had though, and every time an astral projection found its way into Hope’s room she would spell it away before it got any words out. She could tell that it was destroying Hope inside. She loved her family and the fact that they were at odds had Hope on edge at all times. Josie wasn’t happy with what happened either but knew that they would all have to work everything out eventually. Hope was doing it for Josie but the brunette just wanted everyone to be happy, it's just how she was.

 

Josie leaned forward to plant a kiss at each corner of Hope’s mouth. “Do it for me?” Josie whispered, before planting a firm kiss on the shorter girl.

 

“I- uh- um- I…” Hope stammered out. One thing was fur sure. As time passed Josie’s ability to crack Hope’s rough exterior and leave her flustered only increased exponentially. “Fine,” she mumbled.

 

“Good” Josie smiled smugly. “Here lay down, I’ll keep an eye on you.”

 

Hope still looked extremely skeptical. “Promise me that you’ll pull me back If you think I'm distressed. They’re still my family but we’re still...”

 

“I will.” Promised Josie. “Now close your eyes and let it happen, I'll be here when you get back”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

_ Hope closed her eyes and gave into the pull. When she opened her eyes she was standing inside some penthouse in Europe. Scanning the room she finds herself face to face with what remains of her family. _

 

_ “What do you want?” she asks. _

 

_ “Hope we haven’t heard from you at all in a few weeks,” stated Freya. “We wanted to check in,” she added more sincerely. _

 

_ Her eyes flashed gold, noticeable even in the projection. “You threatened Josie,” she said throwing a glare in Marcel’s direction. _

 

_ “And I would like the chance to apologize.” said the man in question. _

 

_ “Littlest wolf,” said Rebekah. Her voice was sincere, calming. Hope turned to look at her, clear blue eyes wide, full of anxiety and worry. Aunty Bex was always a type of...anchoring point for Hope. Always there with open arms and reassurances when she was having a rough day, but never afraid to set her straight when needed either. So when Hope saw the clear signs of guilt and sadness in her Aunt’s eyes, she was at a loss. “This isn’t just about the young Saltzman is it,” Rebekah added. “It’s also about what she said to us.” _

 

_ Hope visibly tensed. There was no hiding it or playing it off. They all saw it. _

 

_ “She was right,” said Freya. “And everyone here is sorry that we’re just realizing it now.” There were nods all around. _

 

_ “Well It’s too late,” says Hope. Tears starting to spill from her eyes. “I- I’m so angry at all of you,” she tries to wipe at her eyes to no avail, she is just a projection after all. “I- I love you guys so much, but I’m just so angry it hurts! I was trying! For you guys! I tried so hard to bring everyone back together and I failed! I- I killed my parents! I know that! I… I just needed someone to be there. To say ‘it’s ok I love you’ but instead, I get stuck at some school while you get to live your lives. And you can’t even let me do that. You were in New Orleans for an hour before you freaked out on me,” her breathing was escalating, she could feel it. “Are- Are you scared of me? Do you hate me? Just please for once… tell me the truth.” _

 

_ Everyone was stunned. The girl in front of them was broken, and more and more pieces were falling off with each passing moment. And it was their fault. _

 

_ Shy, guilty glances were shared between each person in the room and when Rebekah locked eyes with Freya, she knew they were thinking the same thing. Something was barely holding their niece together, barely keeping the most important parts from falling away. It wasn't any of them. It was a young brunette with chocolate brown eyes. They both knew it. _

 

_ Josie Saltzman was keeping their whole world together and she didn’t even know it. Hope was everything to them and they had done a shit job of showing it. _

 

_ “Oh, sweetheart,” whispered Freya, some tears falling from her own eyes. “We love you so much.” _

 

_ “I- Then why don’t you trust me?” she mumbled. “Is it because I’m dads daughter? This, this monster? This freak of nature?!” _

 

_ “No Hope, we just-” Kol started but cut himself off with a sigh, clearly trying to find the right words. “Nik was a good man, but he could be cruel and vicious so we-” _

 

_ “You what? Wanted to make sure I didn’t kill anyone? I know dad did terrible things but all he wanted was for me to be better. You know that! How can I do that when people start a witch hunt at the smallest change. Am I not allowed to be angry? Or sad? Or have bad days? I’m trying to be better. I'm trying to be the daughter he wanted. But having contingency plans for things that aren’t even that bad doesn’t help. It just sets me on edge. It makes me paranoid, just like dad was. I just want to live my life.” said Hope, completely out of breath. _

 

_ “We know, so-” Rebekah tried.  _

 

_ Hope’s projection faded for a second. “I- uh-” _

 

_ “Hope?” asked Freya. “What’s happening? Something is pulling at you. It’s very insistent” _

 

_ “It’s Josie,” Replied Hope. “I- I told her to bring me back if I was distressed. I can’t stop crying. I- I’m sorry. We only have a minute or two, she won’t stop. I made her promise.” _

 

_ “It’s ok darling” assured Rebekah. “We just wanted to ask if you would be willing to try dinner. At least one more time. Start over. Start fresh. With your little witch as well. We would like to properly be introduced.” _

 

_ Hope looked skeptical. “I- I don't know,” and the truth was she didn’t. She loved her family and always would, but didn’t know if she was ready to forgive them. _

 

_ Rebekah stepped up to Hope. “No one blames you for anything love.” She said bringing a hand up to gently lift the younger girl’s chin. Pale blue looking into deep blue. “I’m not going to pretend that we don’t have an astronomical amount of things to work out. But we all promise to be better and we have to start somewhere.” Leaning down Rebekah pressed a kiss to her forehead, Hope couldn’t feel it but felt herself leaning into her aunt’s touch anyway. The tribrid wanted so badly for everything to just be ok, but knew life didn’t work that way. “Just think about it?” added Rebekah. _

 

_ “I- I have to think about it… I need to talk to Josie. I’ll- I’ll text yo-” _

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Hope bolted straight up with a strained gasp. Josie was by her side in an instant. 

 

“Hey, Hey” Josie cooed. “You’re safe, back in your room. You were crying, so I pulled you back.” Josie said taking Hope’s face in her hands. She used her thumbs to wipe away the tears still spilling. “You’re ok”

 

Hope wasted no time in pulling Josie in for a bone-crushing hug. She buried her face into the taller girl’s neck to ride out the rest of the emotions that had escaped containment. Josie was waiting for this. Hope was one of the strongest people she knew, but everyone has their limits and hers were capped out. 

 

Josie held Hope until the girl had nothing left to give but ragged breaths. Soon finding herself sitting against the headboard of the bed with the tribrid sitting in between her legs, arms wrapped around herself and shoulders hunched. With a gentle tug, Josie pulls Hope so she is flush against her. Leaning down she plants a kiss right on Hope’s pulse point humming against her skin.

 

Hope squirms in her arms. “You’re mean,” she says. “I’m trying to think”

 

“I wish you’d talk to me,” replies Josie. “I’ll tease you all night if that's what it’ll take.” She adds casually. 

 

Hope just returned to silence. She was tired. More mentally than physically.

 

Josie could see the gears turning inside her girlfriends head. Some turning gradually, some slowly and others faster than the speed of light. With a sigh, Josie slipped out from behind Hope and made her way over to the closet to grab one of Hope’s sweatshirts. “C’mon,” she said holding out her hand while Hope just gave her a quizzical look. “You’re all out of sorts. You need to go for a run.”

 

“What if I don’t wanna?” asked Hope.

 

Josie just crossed her arms and raise a brow.

 

“...fine,” mumbled Hope. “but I wanna take a nap after,” she added a little more confidently.

 

Josie took both of her hands and pulled Hope off the bed bringing her into another hug. “Anything for my little spoon” she whispered into her ear.

 

Hope is sure she’s never hit anyone as hard in her life as when she hit Josie with one of her pillows, right then and there. Not even Alaric during training.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It had been hours and Hope was still going. Josie had gone back to the school for some snacks, a book, and blanket so she could wait more comfortably. She never minded waiting for Hope. In fact, Josie loved watching Hope run it was the only thing that allowed her to be free of everything. She knew that Hope trusted her, but she wasn’t foolish enough to think she could beat the feeling of a wolf with acres of wilderness to explore. 

 

The only problem was that Josie doesn’t have Hope’s energy or endurance. She was slowly nodding off. The book was loose in her fingers and growing heavier by the second. It wouldn’t be the first time something like this happened and it probably wouldn’t be the last. Josie would spend the night out here if it meant that Hope wouldn’t be alone, she would never leave Hope alone. So here she was, deep in the woods sitting against a tree wrapped up in a blanket slowly falling asleep while waiting on the girl of her dreams.

 

She didn’t hear the quiet, sly steps approaching. She didn’t hear the cracking, snapping, or popping of bones and joints. And when the book finally fell, it never hit the ground. It found it’s way into Hope’s hand where she quietly book-marked the page and placed it on Josie’s lap. 

 

Fresh from shifting the still naked girl checked on Josie before strolling over to a tree off to the side where a pile of clothes was left. Hope wasn’t shy or self-conscious about her body. She was proud of it and there was no one around but Josie anyway, but for the sake of getting her inside before she froze to death or caught something she changed quickly. On the times when her girlfriend wasn’t around during her runs, she would often shift back in an extremely secluded spot in the woods and enjoy the cool breeze running over every inch of her bare skin before eventually returning to the school. It was calming, soothing and although she shifted frequently, it still hurt. She was used to the pain, but the breeze distracted her from the soreness while her superhuman healing took care of the rest. Unfortunately for Hope, the temperature tonight was in the single digits and Josie didn’t run warm like she did. Nor did she have any type of healing abilities.

 

“Hey, sleepy head,” Hope said pressing a kiss to Josie’s forehead. “Time to go back inside.”

 

Josie blinked awake, just barely. “Kay…” 

 

Before she had a chance to fully wake or move Hope had swept her up into her arms and started off towards the school. 

 

The brunette stirred in Hope’s arms “I have legs you know” she mumbled. “I could walk on my ow-” she started but was interrupted by a yawn.

 

Hope smiled. They had this fight every time she tried to carry Josie back to the school. Josie never won.  “Yeah, I guess you could. Too bad you’re already in my arms wrapped up in MY warm fuzzy blanket.”

 

“Oh, is this yours?” Josie said resting her head on Hope’s shoulder. “Suit yourself then.”

 

“Hmmm” started Hope sparing a quick glance at Josie. “I wonder how you got this blanket.” she commented, watching the sleepy girl smirk.

 

“yeah...I...wonder...” Josie slurred. Her features had smoothed out and her breathing was deep and even. Hope felt a little guilty for keeping her out this late. She knew Josie loved being out here with her though, so she didn’t feel too bad.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

They had made it back to the school with relative ease. Josie stirred a few more times due to the howling of the wind. They were so far out in the woods that there wasn’t any other sound to hear. Each time she would blink a few times and nuzzle back into the warmth radiating off of Hope.

 

Hope had just walked through the front door when she hesitated and tensed. Alaric was next to Emma talking on the other side of the room and had turned to look when the door opened. Her eyes widened slightly when he saw them. They still weren't on good terms after the whole Necromancer thing and after Josie had torn him a new one in her honor. She also still didn’t know how he felt about them being together but when his eyes went to her arms and then snapped up to meet hers filled with small amounts of fear she couldn’t help but be a little self-conscious. She didn’t have any other choice but to walk by him, so she steeled her nerves, put on her brave face and started over.

 

“Hi Dr. Saltzman,” she said.

 

“Hope” he replied, popping the ‘p’ in her name slightly.

 

Hope teetered on her heels for a second. “She’s fine, Alaric. Just Asleep. She fell asleep waiting for me again”

 

Alaric looked taken aback. “I- I didn’t-”

 

“I can see in your eyes,” She interrupted. “It’s...It’s the same look you have when you compare me to my father” she added, her voice small.

 

“I knew a different version of your father than you did Hope. You might know about the things he did but you weren’t there for them. I see him in you. I thought that was bad. That it was something that needed to be worked out of you. Until Josie.” He said.

 

“So… where does that leave me?” Hope asked. “You- you don’t think its bad anymore?”

 

Alaric thought for a second, eyes wandering over every inch of her face and then down to her feet and back up. “I don’t know Hope,” he said finally. “I just don’t know.”

 

Hope was anxious under his gaze. “Um… ok.” she breathed out, unsure what to say or do next.

 

“Why don’t you both get some rest. She clearly needs it and you must as well, having been running for a while and all.” Alaric said clearly noticing her growing discomfort.

 

Hope just gave a few slow nods before awkwardly turning to walk away.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Upon reaching her room Hope had carefully placed Josie on the bed and was in the process of sneaking away when she was stopped by a quiet, raspy voice.

 

“Where ya goin’?” whispered Josie.

 

Hope returned to the side of the bed to take Josie’s hand. “I just wanted to take a quick shower, I’ll be right back,” she said, drawing circles on her hand.

 

“You better hurry” rasped the brunette. “I’m cold and I wanna steal some warmth from my space heater of a little spoon”

 

“You won’t let the little spoon thing go will you?” questioned Hope.

 

“Never!” shot Josie.

 

Shaking her head Hope made her way towards her shower. “I’ll be quick.”

 

Hope was in and out as quick as possible, wanting to get as much sleep as possible. The run had cleared her head by a significant amount but she still had so much to think about and deal with. She slapped on some shorts and a sweatshirt and basically threw herself into Josie’s arms, startling the girl awake.

 

“Are you ok?” asked Josie

 

Hope rolled away from her girlfriend. “Just tired” she sighed.

 

“Hmmm,” Josie hummed reaching out to wrap her arms around Hope and pull her close. “Soooo warrrm.” she added snuggling into the tribrid’s back.

 

“Uh, can we talk in the morning?” whispered the shorter girl after a few minutes.

 

“Of course we can.” Josie reassured, kissing Hope’s shoulder for good measure.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Josie felt that something was amiss but in her groggy state, she couldn’t really tell what. The first thing that really made sense to her was that the bed was cold. Really cold. She knew that the weather was supposed to extremely chilly tonight, though when she went to sleep earlier she wasn’t worried as she had been with her girlfriend. Josie didn’t usually sleep with many blankets anymore because Hope radiated heat like nobody’s business. Shivering she reached out only to be met with empty space. No one had been on the other side of the bed for a while judging by the lack of warmth. Sitting up Josie rubbed at her eyes before scanning the room. Her gaze fell on a hunched form sitting on the big window sill. Pulling herself from the bed Josie shuffled over towards the window.

 

The sound of Josie’s feet pattering against the floor caused Hope to turn and with wide guilty eyes, she spoke. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you.” confessed the auburn haired girl.

 

Josie unwrapped herself from the blanket and slung it over Hopes shoulders and then climbed into Hope’s lap. “You not being in bed is what woke me,” replied Josie.

 

As Josie leaned back against the shorter girl Hope brought the blanket around both of them. Finding stay locks of dark brown hair Hope began to play with them. “My family wants to try dinner again,” she whispered. “With you. An- and I want to, I think. But I had to check with you. Marcel wants to apologize and everyone else just wants to start again. They said what you said really hit them and they want to fix everything.”

 

“That sounds like a good thing,” Josie commented. “So what’s wrong?”

 

Hope pulled Josie closer. “I said some things to them when I was projected over. It wasn’t anything bad I just admitted some things that I’d been holding onto for a long time. And... I’m not… I don’t know if I’m ready to hash out those particular feelings yet.”

 

“Ok,” Josie nodded softly. “I think dinner is a good idea, Hope. Small steps right? You guys can just talk a little and eat and all that stuff. It doesn’t have to be anything serious. You can set the terms.” she added.

 

“We.” corrected Hope.

 

“We?” asked Josie.

 

“We,” nodded Hope. “They want you to come, remember? And so do I. I won’t force or pressure you into coming but I would like you to be there. I know after the last time you might be against seeing them again but- but they promised they want to start over. Try to make everything right again. So if you don’t wanna go I won’t be mad I’m just hoping that you-”

 

Josie cut off Hope’s rambling with a kiss. “We.” she confirmed. “You’re stuck with me now. You give off too much warmth anyway, you’re never gonna get rid of me.” Josie added with a bright smile.

 

Hope rolled her eyes at Josie’s banter. It was obvious she was teasing to cheer her up. Luckily for Josie, it was working, but the tribrid could poke too. Feigning betrayal Hope placed a hand on over her heart “Is that all I’m good for? Being a space heater” she shot back.

 

Josie stood up slowly and pulled Hope with her. The force she used left the tribrid a little surprised but it was short lived as Josie smushed their faces together in a hot passionate kiss, short-circuiting Hope’s brain. Josie’s tongue entered her mouth so it could play with her own. Hope didn’t have a chance to resist even if she wanted to. The brunette only pulled away moments later when they both needed to fill their lungs.

 

Looking into dumbstruck gold eyes Josie felt the need to spill her heart. “Eh, my girlfriend is alright. Not only is she always super warm but she's gorgeous. Like, drop dead gorgeous ya know? She has these dazzling deep blue eyes that sometimes turn a gold color brighter than the sun or stars themselves. I’m looking at them now. “She said reaching up to ghost her fingers over Hope’s cheekbone before continuing. “I like how I can get to her, like really get to her. No one else can get to her like I can. She pretends to hate it but I know that she secretly loves every bit. But I like how she can get to me too. She makes me feel safe and protected. She notices the smallest of small things and does her best to help, even if she has no idea what to do. She’s so strong and independent.” she paused again to lean her forehead against Hope’s “but she doesn’t have to be all the time” she whispered. “I hate how she still feels like she has to be alone sometimes and that no matter how many times she's reminded she forgets that she has friends now and that they’re just a text, phone call, astral projection, magic letter, or a sticky note for all I care, away. She’s not alone. Not anymore.” Josie finished.

 

Hope was silent. Blinking a few times to let the gold in her eyes dissipate she looked up into chocolate orbs. “Thanks…” she mumbled. “I, uh, I needed that”

 

“I know,” said Josie. “Now let’s go back to bed. You can text your aunt in the morning, ok? I’ll help you pick a date.” 

 

“Yeah.” Hope said as she was pulled back to the bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any errors I proofread and edited this chapter kinda quick. Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> Sorry again for jebaiting everyone.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dinner time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's your long-awaited dinner part.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Sorry for any errors or mistakes in advance!

There were clothes everywhere. Josie was rushing around the room, back and forth, picking up one top to compare it to a skirt or jeans and then throwing both items somewhere back into the whirlwind that was her room. Everything had to be perfect. SHE had to be perfect. 

 

Lizzie was standing in the doorway with a look of utter disbelief. She had just gotten back from some zen time with her dad. All of which was gone the moment she opened the door to the room she shared with Josie.

 

“Jo? What?...What?” sputtered Lizzie. 

 

Josie halted all actions she was attempting to turn towards the door. “Lizzie!” she shrieked. “I need your help! I- I have to look perfect! I don’t know what to wear!”

 

The blonde twin was blown away. Josie never freaked about her outfits, she didn’t care about that kind of stuff. Josie never freaked out at all. This was usually her thing. Josie’s thing was naturally looking cute as a button no matter what she did. Josie was composed. The scene Lizzie was looking at was so not her sister she a little unnerved.

 

She crossed the room with fast steps and pulled Josie to her bed. Upon settling down on the bed Lizzie noticed the small tear streaks covering her sister’s face. “Josie, what happened? What is this about?”

 

Josie wiped at her cheeks for a moment. “I can’t screw this up again. I need… I just have to be better.” she whispered.

 

Lizzie pulled Josie into a hug. “So this is about dinner?” She asked. Josie just nodded into her shoulder.

 

“Oh Jo,” Lizzie said with a smile. “Does Hope know how you feel?”

 

“She knows I'm nervous but…” replied Josie. “She doesn’t know how much..”

 

“Why?” asked the blonde. Lizzie was never a fan of the tribrid, but she knew that Hope would be beside herself if Josie was anything but happy. Lizzie loved and cared for her sister and she would do anything for Josie, but Hope was on a whole different level. The girl wouldn’t eat or sleep until she somehow got Josie to smile again. “You know she’d be just as upset if she found out you were feeling like this and didn’t see it herself. You should just tell her.” she reasoned.

 

“It’s fine Lizzie, really. I- I just want to look good, ok?” Josie confessed. “That’s all, I wanna make a better impression this time.”

 

Lizzie gave a short hum of disproval but got up off the bed anyway. She searched around the room for a minute or two before returning to her sister with some pieces of clothing. “Here, these will be just fine,” she said.

 

“Are you sure?” questioned Josie. Lizzie had collected a beige skirt from the floor, as well as a long-sleeved black shirt and black tights.

 

“Would you wear this around here?” asked Lizzie. “Exactly, its perfect” she added when Josie gave a small nod.

 

Josie still looked skeptical, which prompted Lizzie to continue. Her sister just wasn’t getting it. “Josie, Hope doesn’t want a pretty pink princess, she wants you. The quiet, outwardly shy, awkward girl but an explosion of emotions on the inside. The girl who’s fiercely protective and doesn’t take any of her shit. Or shit from anyone for that matter. That’s why she likes you. Or partly at least. You also got whatever looks didn't go to me.”

 

Josie regarded her carefully. “Thanks,” she said lips curving up.

 

“Yeah no prob,” shot Lizzie sarcastically. “Totally knew what I was doing there” 

 

Josie answered with a bone-crushing hug. “Doesn’t matter. It worked.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Hope had just knocked on the door to the twins room and was anxiously waiting. As soon as the door opened to reveal her girlfriend, she found herself smiling.

 

“Hey” Hope whispered.

 

“Hey yourself sparkly eyes” quipped Josie pulling Hope into the room while giggling.

 

Sparing a quick glance towards her reflection in the window the tribrid saw that her eyes were in fact very gold and glowing. 

 

“Sorry,” shied Hope. She couldn’t help it. Josie hadn’t even done anything special to herself. She just had on a simple skirt and black shirt. Nonetheless, she just looked so… so Josie, and Hope couldn’t be happier. Hope herself had gone for a very...cliche Hope look. A regular pair of jeans tucked over her favorite pair of black boots and a dark blue short-sleeved tank top under her favorite leather jacket.

 

“It's fine. I like your wolf side. It’s cute and cuddly.” said Josie.

 

Hope scoffed. “It’s ferocious and dangerous,” she said crossing her arms with a pout.

 

Josie pulled Hope into a kiss by the collar of her leather jacket. “sure, babe. Whatever you say,” she whispered into her ear.

 

The pout didn’t leave the shorter girl’s face, but there was a noticeable red covering her cheeks.

 

A slight cough from the other side of the room reminded them that Lizzie still existed. “Look I'm all for you two, but keep the lovey-dovey stuff to a minimum please,” she said. “Especially when I’m here.”

 

The tribrid stepped behind Josie and stood on her toes to rest her chin on the brunette’s shoulder. She wrapped her arms around Josie pinning her arms to her sides and slipped her hands under the front of the siphon’s shirt to rake her fingernails across her stomach, causing Josie to shiver. “We cooould be doing other things…”  she taunted.

 

“NO!” Shouted Lizzie. “NEW RULE! WHEN IN MY PRESENCE YOU WILL LEAVE ROOM FOR JESUS! A FOOT OF SPACE BETWEEN THE TWO OF YOU AT ALL TIMES! AT LEAST!”

 

“Nah,” shot Hope pulling Josie towards the door. “But, it was a nice try!”

 

The last thing the couple was on their way out was the appalled look adorning Lizzie’s face.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Hope and Josie had made it to the lobby of the school hand in hand. Both girls could feel the nervousness of the other, but neither willing to let it show on the surface. Something about being with each other gave them the strength to press on. Their problems were silly to those who didn’t know them. Hope just wanted to make her family proud, to show them she was doing better. Josie just wanted the Mikaelsons to like her, she needed them to know that Hope is safe. Hope is being taken care of. That SHE was taking care of Hope. That Hope was loved, no matter what she is, no matter who her family is, Hope IS loved.

 

_ Loved _ .

 

_ Love. _

 

‘Did she love Hope?’ Josie thought. Their relationship felt different than hers and Penelope’s. When she was with Penelope, Josie felt pulled in every direction constantly fighting for some type of balance. With Hope, Josie felt quite the opposite. She felt centered, grounded. Fighting was replaced with understanding.

 

“Hey”

 

Josie nearly jumped out of her skin.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” said Hope. “Our ride is here, what were you thinking about?” she asked with concern.

 

“Nothing Important” replied Josie starting off towards the door. “Just nerves.” 

 

The brunette saw some sort of disbelief sent her way by the shorter girl but tugged her along anyway. They were about to step out when a familiar voice stopped them.

 

“Hey, you two,” said Alaric. “Don’t stay out too late ok?”

 

Josie turned towards her dad. “Yeah dad we know we'll be back before-” she started before her dad cut her off.

 

“No, no,” he said walking over so he could stand in front of the two. “Don't worry about curfew.  Go out and spend time with your family, Hope,” he said placing a hand on her shoulder. “And Josie… give them a chance. Something I never did. I think they’ve earned it by now. All I'm saying is just don’t stay out  _ too _ late.” he finished.

 

“Thanks, Dad”

 

“Thanks, Alaric”

 

They both answered at the same time. With a nod from him and two matching smiles from the girls, they went their separate ways.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The ride in the limo was a bit awkward. It was only Rebekah and Marcel inside. They explained that everyone else was already at the restaurant making sure the reservation was all set. Also, they didn’t want to overwhelm Josie with the full force of their family just yet. Again. Sitting this close to Marcell already had her heart racing. Knowing that he heard it, Rebekah heard it, and Hope could hear it just made it beat faster.

 

Josie was pretty sure she was cracking the bones in Hope’s hand she was holding it so tight. Hope didn’t even seem to notice. She and Marcell were to busy staring at each other. Hope with intensity and Marcell with a bit of shyness and regret. 

 

“Relax, Hope,” he said. “I’m not going to try and jump your girl again.”

 

Hope leaned forward with gold eyes. “There shouldn’t be an  _ again _ . There shouldn’t have been a first” she hissed. Anger threatening to boil over ready to cuss him out when a hand on her thigh and chin still her.

 

Josie pulls Hope’s head so they're looking into each other's eyes. Leaning in she whispers in her ear, “ _ No wolfing out in here, ok?”  _ Keeping one hand on her chin and bringing the other to run through auburn tresses, “ _ It’s in the past Hope, we have to move forward. That’s what your dad would want, right? It’s what you want? _ ” Only continuing when she feels Hope nods a few times. “ _ Then you have to calm down. Being nervous is fine but you can’t be this angry. You can’t take back what you say or do when you’re angry. You could say something in the heat of it and make things worse or end up being angry with yourself. _ ” The brunette finishes.

 

Turning back the two teenagers were now aware of the soft smiles playing on both Marcel and Rebekah’s faces.

 

Josie’s face was on fire. “You- You both- I’m the only one without super hearing in this car…” she realized out loud.

 

Hope just shrugged.

 

“I am sorry, you know,” voiced Marcel. “It was a force of habit. And I know that's not an excuse,” he said holding up a hand, “its, ah, something I’m working on. I am sorry though. Truly.”

 

“I’ll accept your apology if you accept mine?” reasoned Josie with a smile.

 

“You don’t have anything to apologize for,” stated Rebekah. To which Marcel nodded in agreement.

 

Josie looked taken aback. “But-”

 

Rebekah just shook her head. “You said nothing but the truth the last time we were here. And the magic was just a selling point. It’s alright. But dear? Try taking some deep breaths. We wouldn’t want you rupturing a blood vessel now would be?”

 

All Josie could do was blush. Again.

 

The rest of the ride to the restaurant was mostly comfortable silence. Quiet small talk here and there. Hope and Josie were too preoccupied with each other to really pay attention to the outside world. 

 

Rekebah couldn’t help but notice the small something in both of their eyes. They were so deeply infatuated with each other and they didn’t even realize. As long as Josie was smiling Hope didn’t even know what year it was. And as long as Hope looked at Josie with nothing but trust, and love, and happiness Josie just smiled brighter. They were stuck in a cycle oblivious only to themselves. Anyone else could see it with just a glance.

 

Rebekah had one mission tonight.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The restaurant was incredible, but Josie couldn’t help but feel out of place. She had never and probably would never eat at a place like this again. It was one of those cliche things from movies with five-star restaurants. It was clear the Mikaelsons were trying to impress her though, if she was being honest, Josie would’ve settled for pizza, soda, and a game of twenty questions. 

 

Walking further Josie found herself even more surprised. The entire place was empty save for one grouping of tables in the center, and the rest had been moved off to the side. The wait staff was milling about making sure everything was up to their guest standards. Everyone got up to greet the four arrivals upon the door opening.

 

Keelin was the first to approach with a quiet but happy smile. “Hey,” she says, “mind if I snag a hug?” she asks with open arms.

 

Hope is quick to reciprocate and threw her arms around Keelin’s neck. She felt closer to Keelin right now than any of her family members. The odd one out, Keelin fully understood what it was like to be a Mikaelson but not at the same time. To be considered part of the clan but only allowed to see and know so much. And that’s exactly how Hope felt nowadays. 

 

“It’s good to see you too Hope!” Keelin said with a full belly laugh before turning towards Josie. “How ‘bout you, little witch?”

 

“Um...” says Josie completely confused. “Sure?” Allowing Keelin to sweep her up in a crushing hug, sucking every ounce of air from her body.

 

“Keelin!” Shouted Hope laughing. “She’s not a werewolf! You can’t squeeze her that hard!”

 

Keeling released the brunette from the death grip she had encased her in. “Sorry!” she said.

 

Josie waved them both off while catching her breath. “It’s fine, really,” she said eventually still winded. Stepping up to hug Hope from behind, “This one hugs tighter than that when she falls asleep cuddling.”

 

Hope reached back to slap a hand over Josie’s mouth. Her own hanging open in surprise. It didn’t matter. Keelin and Freya were doubling over in laughter and the other Mikaelsons barely holding it in. Even some of the staff were trying to hide their smiles.

 

“Wouldn’t have pegged you for the little spoon, Hope,” called Kol earning a smack on the head from Davina.

 

“Why does everyone assume I’m the little spoon?” Hope snapped through clenched teeth.

 

Josie kissed her cheek. “Cuz you are,” she shot walking over to greet the others.

 

Everyone burst into laughter.

 

Hope sulked the entire time.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Josie didn’t know what she was expecting but it wasn’t literally twenty questions. Well, not literally but it was close enough. Everyone had kept true to their word, no yelling or fighting just talking. She could tell it was hard for the supernatural powerhouses to just talk instead of trying to kill each other until their problems went away. The meal was full of questions upon questions, not at all like an interrogation but questions filled with general curiosity and interest. From both sides as well. The Mikaelsons would ask her a handful of questions and she’d answer as best she could. She’d get to ask some too. The questions were small, innocent, no one wanting to push any boundaries. Everyone was laughing and smiling.

 

“So Josie,” started Kol, “word is that you’re different.” There's no malice or disgust in his tone but the siphon can’t help but start to panic. She’s had this conversation before.

 

“Uh…y- yeah,” She knows she’s not a normal witch. The twins had gone through the abuse of being siphons at school before. But with her dad being the headmaster no one got the chance to say anything more than once. “I- I’m a siphon,” she whispers waiting for the shoe to drop. Waiting for their smiles to turn to disgust, for them to tell her Hope is too good for her.

 

Kol continues without missing a beat. “What's it like?” he asks leaning forward placing his elbows on the table and resting his chin on his hands.

 

“What?” is all she manages to choke out.

 

“I’m just curious is all, there's not a lot of lore on siphon witches,” he says. “It’s fascinating to be able to learn about them from an actual siphon.”

 

Josie just stares at him with a blank face. She searches his eyes and face for anything hidden. She spares extremely quick glances around the room at everyone else before her gaze lands on Hope. The tribrid is regarding her carefully, not really understanding what's wrong but aware of the tempo of her heart enough to know that something is off.

 

Josie stands suddenly, breathing a little hard. “I- uh- I just need a minute. I'm going to go use the bathroom.” she rushes out before speeding off.

 

“Josie, wait!” Hope calls after her. She stands to follow but is stopped by Rebekah.

 

The Original gives her a smile, “It’s alright love, I’ll go check on her.”

 

“But-” Hope tries.

 

“Not this time,” she says with a wink before vamping after the brunette.

 

Rebekah finds Josie leaning over one of the bathroom sinks trying to calm her breathing. She observes as the girl splashes cold water on her face with shaky hands before making her presence known.

 

She doesn’t get the chance when Josie looks up and catches her in the mirror, scaring her half to death. Josie shrieks and jumps, her feet slipping on the slick floor causing her to tumble. The hard impact with the floor never comes as the blonde vampire’s reflexes allow her to reach Josie and stabilize her with one hand on her elbow and the other on her back. “Sorry,” says Rebekah quietly. “Didn’t mean to scare you like that,” she admits.  

 

Josie’s soul returns to her body in record time. “It’s alright. But you didn't have to come check on me.” she squeaks out.

 

“I’d be lying if I said that was the only reason I came after you,” Rebekah said.

 

Josie turned to bring her full attention to the ancient vampire. “Why...what's- what’s the other reason?” she asked.

 

She hesitated, staring at the young witch in front of her with piercing eyes. Almost like she was staring right through her or right into her soul. “You scare me,” Rebekah revealed, “You scare all of us.”

 

“I scare you?” Josie questioned. “I- I don’t understand.” Why would the Mikaelson’s fear her? She was a strong witch sure but compared to Freya she had a long way to go. And what could she do against a bunch of immortal vampires? She was just a teenage girl dealing with her own teenage problems like good grades, her ex, her own family, and now her girlfriend’s family.

 

Girlfriend.

 

“Does me being with Hope scare you?” the siphon wondered out loud. Then panic made another appearance. “I- I thought we were getting somewhere. I- I thought I was making a good impression this time. I- I- I thought I was proving myself.” she rambled, water starting to pool in her eyes. “Wh- What can I do? Can I do anything? Is- Is it too late to fix this?”

 

Rebekah was quick to sweep the girl into a tight embrace. Rubbing her back she whispered to the girl, “Nothing, there's nothing you need to do. Now dry those tears and let me finish, ok?” she said wiping her thumbs over the younger girl’s cheeks, and when Josie gave a small nod she pressed on. “Oh, my dear, you are everything we’ve wanted for her. And That’s why you scare me.”

 

“Why is that bad?” whispers Josie.

 

“Because you have the power to destroy her,” Rebekah says with an edge of seriousness. “You didn’t think it weird that you’re the only one who can get through to her when her wolf makes an appearance? When her eyes burn only you can put them out? None of us can do that, not like you can anyway.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“It means she belongs to you,” said Rebekah. “And you to her. Wolves don’t bond like she has very often. At all really. And I need….we need you to understand the...the...significance of this.”

 

“So you’re saying she loves me? Or something?” Josie tried to summarize. “ What are you trying to say? Is there like a point to this?”

 

“I’m saying that she can’t live without you.” Rebekah clarified. “We Mikaelsons have a tendency to go to the extremes for each other. But you, little witch, are mortal. She’s had enough people die FOR her, but she can’t lose you too. She’s lost so much that losing you would kill her.” 

The vampire paused letting what she had revealed sink in before she delivered the punch line of the conversation. She watched mixed emotions pass over Josie’s face, watched as her chocolate eyes wandered aimlessly before they settled on her own pale blue ones.

 

“What are you asking?”

 

“The world we live in is horrific, Josie. She was born with enemies. And you’ve already faced your own at the school. There will inevitably come a time when worse will come to worse. There will come a time when things will be bad, really bad.” Rebekah took a deep breath. “Don’t ever die for her. Don’t sacrifice yourself for her.”

 

“Um…” Josie slipped out.

 

Rebekah held up a hand. “Let me finish darling. You’ve read the idiotic history book at your school, correct?” Josie gave a few nods. “She might not have told you yet but she loves you, truly, and Nik didn’t have the best luck with his love life. That girl is so much like her father. She has the best and worst of him in her. If something happens to you, Nik would pale in comparison on her warpath to revenge. She would burn cities to the ground for you. Hope doesn’t need any more people to die for her, she needs someone to LIVE for her. She needs people to stay a constant in her life. Can you do that for us?”

 

“She’s mine,” Josie spoke. It was a statement, not a question. Almost like a realization. “Yeah…Yeah, I can do that. I- she loves me?”

 

“She does,” Rebekah confirmed. “Hope is just too scared to tell you. She needs you to say it first. I’m not pressuring you, you don’t have to say it until you’re ready to. She will show you how much she cares until then. She might not say it at all, but she does she really does.”

 

“Ok” Josie breathed out. “Ok” she breathed again.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Upon Rebekah and Josie returning to the dining area, Hope was quick to sweep the brunette into a hug and quickly inspect her.

 

“Are you ok? She asked rubbing her hands up and down Josie’s arms.

 

“Yeah, your Aunt just gave me a little... pep talk is all,” Josie replied.

 

“Yes, yes, The birds and the bees, all that nonsense now let's get to dessert,” Rebekah commented causing the youngest couples faces to heat up. 

 

When everyone was seated, the dessert had been served, and the staff had vacated the room to leave the guests to themselves Josie addressed the group, “I- I want to apologize to you all. I was pretty nervous about this dinner after the last time. And… usually, people look at me with disgust when they learn about my sister and I being a siphon so when you didn’t… it was kind of overwhelming. I just needed a second.”

 

“Oh love, you’ll find no resentment here. After all, you are sitting in a room with us,” Kol gestured around the room. “Though we would all love to hear about our niece’s favorite person, if you choose not to, we won’t hold it against you.”

 

The energy in the room was light and positive, flowing freely. It made Josie want to talk. It made her feel welcome. The last straw was Hope’s hands, one taking her own and the other resting on her knee. “Yeah… I’d love to tell you about it,” Josie sighed with happiness. She brought the hand that was occupied by Hope’s up to the table and used her other hand to play with the tribrid’s fingers absentmindedly. “It can be hard. I don’t have my own magic, which sucks. I have to rely on other magical things or….or creatures. It scares me to siphon from people,” she said looking into Hope’s eyes, “It can hurt. Really bad. And there's no way to tell how much people can take. It’s different for everyone. She can take more than he can, he can take more than the other guy can, sometimes people can’t take it at all. Its… It's terrifying.” she finished with a deep breath.

 

Hope brought Josie’s hands to her lips and kissed each knuckle while everyone else processed the information.

 

The rest of the dinner couldn’t have gone better. Tales of Always and Forever, New Orleans and threats to the school were shared over the two oldest bottles of wine, compliments of Marcel and Rebekah from Europe. Smiles and warm eyes all around. And when the time came for everyone to go their separate ways, it was the happiest goodbye Hope could remember.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The moon was high in the sky when Freya and Keelin returned the girls back to the school. The other members of the clan had said their goodbyes at the restaurant with promises to actually keep in touch. Promises of doing better which for the first time in her life, Hope believed them.

 

“We love you, Hope,” says Freya, “I’m so sorry. I spent so much time in New Orleans cleaning up your father’s messes that I jumped the supernatural gun with you. I- I can’t tell you how sorry I am. I should have trusted you more,” she added pulling Hope into a hug, “I will from now on… but I still worry… So please… I promise I won’t jump the gun anymore but promise me you’ll call if you need help.”

 

“I know,” she said. “You don’t have to worry, Auntie Frey. I’ll be calling to do more than just check in. I can’t stay mad at my favorite forbidden spell teaching aunt for long can I?” Hope spared a look at her girlfriend, who was standing next to Keelin sporting a smile, “besides, We said we’d fix things right? We can do that… just one step at a time.”

 

Freya pulled Hope into a teary-eyed hug. “Yeah… We have a whole lot to make up for don’t we? I’m just happy you don’t hate me.”

 

“I am my dad’s daughter… anger and hate only last for so long before… before I hate myself for being angry in the first place. But I have someone here to keep my out of the clouds.” Hope said.

 

Keelin slapped an arm over Josie’s shoulders and leaned heavily into her “I’m sure you can find somewhere else to put your head,” she commented.

 

Hope and Josie’s eyes met each others faces on fire both girls pulling their lips into their mouth and biting them.

 

The older couple left them standing on the stairs to the school while they made their way back to the limousine drowning themselves in laughter. Just as they were stepping back into the limo Freya grabbed her wife by the waist and spun them both around before yelling out to the girls, “I hope you have a lot of concealer, Josie! Wolves like to mark their territory! If you know what I mean,” she added with a wink. Keelin picked up and threw Freya head first into the cabin and climbed in after her with a speed Josie nor Hope knew werewolves had. With a last flurry of waves from the window Freya and Keelin pulled past the treeline and out of sight.

 

Josie took Hope’s hand to give her a soft tug, “I guess our always and forever comes with familial teasing now,” she said as she pulled Hope through the doors.

 

The tribrid stopped dead. She stopped so hard that she yanked Josie’s arm spinning her around. “Ours?” Hope whispered standing in the doorway, bathing in the moonlight of the left open door.

 

Josie ignored the small pain in her shoulder to look down at the shorter girl. She looked so beautiful standing in the moonlight. Josie could’ve said ‘I love you.’ She could’ve said the three magic words right then and there. But. Their whole world was magic. Both of them could grow flowers, make it snow, bring a little rain or throw a fireball with three words or less. Most skilled witches didn’t even have to say anything. She could do better. She put her hands on Hope’s waist and pulled her close, smiling when the other girls arms went around her neck instinctively. “If you’ll have me?” the siphon said. “I want to be apart of  _ your _ always and forever. Whoever that includes, whoever joins along the way, whatever troubles you will face, I want to be there. Through all of it. With. You.” she concluded punctuating the ending of the last few sentences with quick kisses. “I just want you”

 

Hope looked up into those chocolate eyes she knew she couldn’t live without. “I Lo- I- I’d really… I’d really like that. I- I-”

 

“Its ok,” interrupted Josie. “You don’t have to say it. I already know. I don’t need to hear it.”

 

And so they began to sway. Back and forth almost like the wind was coming through the open door just to push them, but holding them up at the same time.

 

They didn’t know how long they were there. They didn’t notice when the watchful eyes of the moon finally closed and allowed the sun’s to open for it’s turn to watch over them. They did notice when Alaric stumbled out of his office with an imprint of a book cover on his forehead and without enough coffee in his system too tired to scold them but awake enough to give them the day off. It didn’t matter either way. They have each other.

 

_ ~Always and Forever, _

 

_ One Step at a Time.~ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope everyone is ok with this chapter. Part of me didn't really feel confident in my own abilities as a writer to be able to write the Mikaelsons hashing it out in an...efficient way, the other part didn't want to write it so people could envision their own version of how they work everything out so the dinner ended up being more of like a truce. There might be more chapters added in the future but I wouldn't hold your breath cuz I think I like where I left this one maybe some fluff but idk yet.
> 
> I really Hope you guys enjoyed!  
> Cheers~

**Author's Note:**

> Next chapter will be them actually having that dinner.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think!
> 
> Cheers~


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